South African Dish with River Crabs, Chestnuts and Biltong

Ingredients

• 200 g butternut squash (flesh)
• 0.5 small onion
• 0.5 tsp Coriander seeds
• 1 pinch chili powder
• 300 ml fish stock
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• 75 g chestnuts (cooked, peeled)
• sour cream (to taste)
• dry South African white wine (for seasoning)
• 100 g biltong (thinly sliced)
• 300 ml dry South African white wine
• 500 ml vegetable broth
• 3 slices ginger
• 1 clove nutmeg
• 1 star anise
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 4 river crabs
• 1 tsp chopped coriander

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2. 2.

   For the sauce, dice the squash. Peel and finely chop the onion. Grind coriander with chili powder in a mortar, then mix with the squash. Add a bit of olive oil, transfer to an baking dish, and bake for about 15 minutes until tender. Heat some oil in a pot, add chestnuts and onion, sauté, then add squash. Pour in broth, simmer for 10 minutes until soft, then puree finely (sieve if necessary). Season with sour cream and wine. Blend again, add biltong, and keep warm.

3. 3.

   Tie the claws of live river crabs together (or have a fishmonger do it). Put all ingredients for the stock into a pot, add 250-500 ml water, and cook each crab individually in the simmering broth until they turn bright red. Remove from the broth and shock briefly in ice-cold water to stop further cooking.

4. 4.

   Plate the sauce on dishes, sprinkle with coriander, and serve.